Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing as a whole portrays a message that encourages acting appropriately by "doing the right thing" as characters say to each other occasionally throughout the story. The story uses the environment, such as the summer heat, to show how tension in a community can quickly boil over even in small conflicts. The title of the story is interesting in itself as many of the characters throughout the story do not do the right thing when faced with a problem. For example, Sal threatening Buggin' Out after he mentions the wall of fame in the pizzeria can be seen as over dramatic on Sal's part as he could have simply avoided the confrontation. Another example of this is at the end when Mookie, while being rightfully angry over Radio Raheem's death throws the first blow to cause a riot.
     The movie provides many instances where individuals can choose to do the right thing or not, but never provides an answer to what doing the right thing is. Because of the actions of some of the characters and because the question of what the right thing is is subjective the point could be that doing the right thing means doing whatever one believes to be the best option, rather than what anyone else might think they should do as the right way to handle a situation can vary greatly from person to person.